Are you a single species angler?

chav professor · Aug 7, 2011

Just a thought - there always seems to be division within the sport of angling - really strange considering the genteel nature of this most compulsive pastime...........

So anglers who target carp are happy to be called 'carp fisherman'. When targetting Chub, you are a 'Chub fisherman'. Pike anglers are 'Pikers' or 'predator anglers'. If you enter competitions, you are a 'match angler'.....
If you are happy to catch anything with fins - you are a 'pleasure fisherman'. etc, etc........

Why is this so? does this not just reinforce strereotypes etc..... so to sum it up. Do you consider yourself simply as a fisherman, or do you consider yourself a 'carp', 'barbel', 'piker' 'pleasure' fisherman????

I am happy to just refer to my passion as being a fisherman - but I do flit around.... when i carp fish, I am a Carp fisherman - but I enjoy the tench and bream that keep me up at night too - it is not a dissaster......

The reason i ask is I was heavilly involved in sea fishing... this tends to be a generic term. e.g. 'I am a sea fisherman - i am targetting Bass'....... I don't meet many 'Bass fisherman'. Perhaps it is because sea fishing is seasonal?

Simon K · Aug 7, 2011

Well, Chav, most of the time when anyone asks me on the bankside, I'm an eel fisherman.

Apart from that, when I've two rods out I can potentially catch more than one species, possibly at the same time. Fishing's great fun, isn't it?

quickcedo · Aug 7, 2011

I'm a pleasure angler who enjoys targetting one species at a time. I enjoy the extra challenge of trying to catch one type of fish at a time.
Although saying that, most times I go anything that 'pulls my string' is welcome.

sam vimes · Aug 7, 2011

I will target single species but never at the exclusion of all others. Onlookers will see me barbelling, carping, piking, chasing tench, chub, bream and perch. I don't consider any other fish a nuisance except perhaps minnows and, if there were any left, small bootlace eels) Occasionally, I'll do a reasonable impression of a match angler (on rivers and once in a while the dreaded commercials

) though I haven't fished a proper match in well over a decade. I've no idea what I am other than an angler. I don't really give a damn how other people percieve me.

dezza · Aug 7, 2011

I'm certainly not a single species angler. This is something I've never been able to understand; I would become bored stiff fishing for one species for the rest of my life.

This year I have fished for, and caught something like 15 species, one or two have been good sized too, although none have been massive.

chav professor · Aug 7, 2011

Simon K said:
Well, Chav, most of the time when anyone asks me on the bankside, I'm an eel fisherman.

Apart from that, when I've two rods out I can potentially catch more than one species, possibly at the same time. Fishing's great fun, isn't it?

or 3 rods...... two for eels and one for snatching stuff for fresh deads....

barbelboi · Aug 7, 2011

I couldn’t imagine only fishing for one species of fish, or fishing one sort of water, although I do prefer to target a certain species at any given time. I prefer the varierty of fishing rivers, gravel pits, estate lakes and field ponds as and when the mood takes me.

Bob Hornegold · Aug 7, 2011

chav professor said:
Just a thought - there always seems to be division within the sport of angling - really strange considering the genteel nature of this most compulsive pastime...........

So anglers who target carp are happy to be called 'carp fisherman'. When targetting Chub, you are a 'Chub fisherman'. Pike anglers are 'Pikers' or 'predator anglers'. If you enter competitions, you are a 'match angler'.....
If you are happy to catch anything with fins - you are a 'pleasure fisherman'. etc, etc........

Why is this so? does this not just reinforce strereotypes etc..... so to sum it up. Do you consider yourself simply as a fisherman, or do you consider yourself a 'carp', 'barbel', 'piker' 'pleasure' fisherman????

I am happy to just refer to my passion as being a fisherman - but I do flit around.... when i carp fish, I am a Carp fisherman - but I enjoy the tench and bream that keep me up at night too - it is not a dissaster......

The reason i ask is I was heavilly involved in sea fishing... this tends to be a generic term. e.g. 'I am a sea fisherman - i am targetting Bass'....... I don't meet many 'Bass fisherman'. Perhaps it is because sea fishing is seasonal?

Nope !!

But I use to fish for Bass of the Pier at Bournemouth and into the Piles of the Pier for Conger, whatever I caught, I sold to the local Chiness shop or swap the fish for a Pie or two !!

Fred Bonney · Aug 7, 2011

I try to be species specific when I fish, so I go after tench, or barbel, or roach, sometimes perch.

All my pb chub were caught trying to catch barbel!

Sean Meeghan · Aug 7, 2011

Last Saturday I was smooth hound fishing, Tuesday I was carp fishing and today I was admitting to barbel fishing, but really I was prospecting for chub. Saw a small group of really big fish that will be my winter project.

I go through phases in my fishing, but most summers are spent chasing barbel, simply because of where I live. For the rest of the year my tatses are much more Catholic (not suprising for one who was educated by Jesuits!).

mol · Aug 7, 2011

I was a single species angler and I enjoyed it for a long while. The more you delve into a single branch of fishing the more extra interests you develop, when into carping I use to make bait from scratch as it's an extra layer to the sport. I suppose it was an obsession.

I have to confess that I did get a hint stale and now I just can't find the motivation to carp fish or anything remotely similar. I still go fishing a couple of times a week but mainly a very mobile approach on rivers, the complete opposite of how I use to fish.

xenon · Aug 8, 2011

is it not one of (if not the main) joys of angling that it is so diverse? Different species, different situations, and as many ways of going for them as your imagination can devise? Dont know how this could be determined, but I would be prepared to bet quite a sum that of all the sports/hobbies/ games available angling contains the largest percentage of those who are hooked for life.

rains · Aug 8, 2011

chav professor said:
Just a thought - there always seems to be division within the sport of angling - really strange considering the genteel nature of this most compulsive pastime...........

So anglers who target carp are happy to be called 'carp fisherman'. When targetting Chub, you are a 'Chub fisherman'. Pike anglers are 'Pikers' or 'predator anglers'. If you enter competitions, you are a 'match angler'.....
If you are happy to catch anything with fins - you are a 'pleasure fisherman'. etc, etc........

Why is this so? does this not just reinforce strereotypes etc..... so to sum it up. Do you consider yourself simply as a fisherman, or do you consider yourself a 'carp', 'barbel', 'piker' 'pleasure' fisherman????

I am happy to just refer to my passion as being a fisherman - but I do flit around.... when i carp fish, I am a Carp fisherman - but I enjoy the tench and bream that keep me up at night too - it is not a dissaster......

The reason i ask is I was heavilly involved in sea fishing... this tends to be a generic term. e.g. 'I am a sea fisherman - i am targetting Bass'....... I don't meet many 'Bass fisherman'. Perhaps it is because sea fishing is seasonal?

I used to fishing excusively for pike for about 5 years using lures at night and before that just normal float fishing now i consider my self a jack of all i just like to fish the float but will try other methods for different fish

dannytaylor · Aug 8, 2011

sam vimes said:
I will target single species but never at the exclusion of all others. Onlookers will see me barbelling, carping, piking, chasing tench, chub, bream and perch. I don't consider any other fish a nuisance except perhaps minnows and, if there were any left, small bootlace eels) Occasionally, I'll do a reasonable impression of a match angler (on rivers and once in a while the dreaded commercials) though I haven't fished a proper match in well over a decade. I've no idea what I am other than an angler. I don't really give a damn how other people percieve me.

This about sums up my angling (eels are never a nusiance LOL). Ive tried to target one species at the exclusion of all else, never lasts long there are just to many targets in angling. For me the seasons dictate what i fish for.

Are you a single species angler?

chav professor

Well-known member

Simon K

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quickcedo

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sam vimes

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dezza

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chav professor

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barbelboi

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Bob Hornegold

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Fred Bonney

Banned

Sean Meeghan

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mol

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xenon

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rains

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dannytaylor

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